Kissing Finnick Odair
by Howlynn
Summary: Finnick Odair is crazy. Nobody seems to have time for him, but one young girl is determined to help him. Prim and Finnick become friends. This is friendship, not romance, even with a little kissing. This one will make you smile I hope. Read and review.


**Kissing Finnick Odair**

**Author**: **Howlynn**  
><strong>Realm<strong>: _The Hunger Games_, Suzanne Collins  
><strong>Story Title<strong>: Kissing Finnick Odair  
><strong>Summary<strong>: _Finnick Odair went crazy. People shunned him now, but one young girl still thought he was worth the bother. Primrose Everdeen is not giving up on him. _  
><strong>CharacterRelationships**: Prim and Finnick

I** Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Author notes**: Before you sign off this as icky, it is not romance. There is kissing involved, and a little crush, but read on and you will see.

**Warning:**_ may contain any of the following ingredients –(old people, language. Spoilers, Sexual discussion, sexual reference, sexual innuendo, reference to past violence, sadness, alcohol use, caffeine use, unintended exhibitionism, naked people, prostitution - If you have any allergies to these subjects, please take appropriate measures for your maturity level. Side effects may include but not be limited to: flaming of the author, Pm grouchiness, and unwanted hair growth._

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><p>She reads his chart and sighs. He has not had a visitor in three days, other than the one he keeps tempting to take him away from here. Finnick Odair had tried to kill himself again. Again means, he will have to be sedated until someone has time to deal with him. Again means, he is in restraints once more. She had watched him last time, right after he'd arrived. He'd struggled and fought and howled until she had even been frightened of him.<p>

She was off duty when it had happened the first time. Technically it was the second time, because what had landed him here in the first place was called an accidental overdose. But he'd broken his mirror and slashed his wrists with it. He'd required one hundred thirty stitches. He'd meant it. Finnick was not playing.

He'd broken a restraint and hung himself last night, not even having the understanding that by pulling out his IV and removing his oxygen monitor, he'd set off alarms. Everyone says they love him, but where are they? Prim took a seat next to his bed and watched him lying so peacefully at the moment. He would look the same in a coffin. She imagined there would be a bunch of people who would show up for that part. Girls would hover by his coffin and weep. Prim knew they were not real, or they would be here now.

Nobody even tried to cheer him up. Nobody seems interested in him now that he is just crazy and not rich and famous. He isn't as pretty in person either. He looks old in person. The makeup and the cameras hid him. With his face scrubbed clean, he almost looks normal, maybe a little chubby when he is relaxed. Of course she knew his muscles could pump up quickly, they had been covered in sweat and veins as he'd tried to escape the restraints.

She is done for the day, but feels drawn to his room. She should be seeing to Katniss, but she had so many people and this famous guy didn't have anyone. Prim had had a crush on him most of her life, but it was not any more real than the love people had showered him with when he was great. Since he'd been here, it had become a little real. It is mixed with pity and empathy and kindness now, and it is real enough that she is sitting here, wanting to help him.

She touches his passive face, pulls his eyes open watching the pupils pin as she shines her light in them. His eyes are very pretty green, though they are bloodshot from his adventure last night. She looks at him a long time. Somebody needs to do something and she has an idea.

It took a great deal of convincing. He is not on anyone's list of priority. But she did get them to agree. They think she will fail, but they said there really wasn't anything the matter with him and he is taking up a bed and using precious resources when he should be fighting like the rest of them.

His eyes open. He takes in his situation and the little girl sitting with him. He sighs, "What are you supposed to be kid? Some kind of nurse?"

"I am a medic. They won't let me start training until I prove I deserve a residency. So I decided beings nobody else has time for you, maybe I could help," Prim says honestly.

"Do you know who I am?" he asks, looking her up and down.

"You're the guy who didn't kill my sister," Prim says carefully.

"Who is your sister?" Finnick shakes his head baffled.

"Katniss."

"Oh. So why do you look like Peeta?" he asks, more confused.

"I don't know, but you would not be the first to mention it." Prim looks down at her hands.

"Did Katniss send you?"

"Katniss isn't doing much better than you. She has asked about you? Well, she can't talk, but I tell her about you and she listens, so I know she wants to know."

"Why can't she talk?"

"Same reason you can't quit killing yourself."

"I don't want to disappoint you, but you can't make me stop, little sister to the mockingjay. I won't be so stupid about it next time. I don't know why anyone is forcing me to stay. You see the droves of people beating down the door to get in here." He doesn't even sound mad, just disgusted.

"Don't think they aren't out there. We won't let them in. Keeping your meltdowns private." Prim lies.

He grins, "Nobody ever did before."

"I remember." Prim grins back.

"So you do know…who I am?" Finnick grins at her big and fake.

Prim puts on a similar smile, too big and too fake and says through her teeth, "I know who you pretended to be. I don't know you, other than that you know CPR really good, and you didn't kill Katniss or Peeta, even when it cost you the nice old lady."

"How do you know if she was a nice old lady or a mean old witch?" he challenges.

"Because your eyes shined when you talked to her. And you fell apart when she died."

"She was nice. You're pretty smart. I don't think your sister is as smart as you are." He rattles his restraints. "This is so gross, but could you let just one hand go. My nose itches." He smiles to her, charming and sweet.

"She is smart, about different stuff." Prim stands up and offers the palm of her hand for his nose scratching pleasure.

"Thanks, but it is inside, if you know what I mean?" He bats his eyelashes and whispers, "I could use a tissue too?"

"Oh you have dried mucus? No problem, I have a kit for that." Prim goes to a drawer and removes a bulbous blue thing and mixes a warm saline solution. She loads the bulb and squirts saline up his nose, then sucks it back out several times.

"Hey, what the hell…" He twists his head away and glares at her.

"Hold still, I won't hurt you," Prim says kindly, with lacy sarcasm.

She holds his head still, making him furious. "Cut that crap out and unhook my hand!" He protests her doing the procedure to the other nostril.

"There. All better? Don't be such a baby. You didn't really think I would unhook your hand, and then turn my back to hand you a tissue? I may be young, but your silly fake smiles don't work," Prim chatters in a friendly fashion.

Finnick goes wild, growling and cursing. A nurse comes and Prim waves her away. Prim closes the door and sits down looking at him as if waiting for him to finish his dinner.

"Get Out! Get out and leave me alone," he shouts at her. He begins to crumple into tears.

Prim leans over the bed and holds him. She pets his soft hair and even though he smells a little, she doesn't pull away. "Is this the best you can do Finnick Odair? If you are going to die, then you need to tell me what to say to her. When she comes here looking for you, after she has survived God know what to see you again, what should I give her as reason you didn't want her anymore?"

"She's never coming back. She isn't strong. She couldn't have lasted three days," he moans.

"I bet she does. You give up on her, and don't you kind of doom her? I mean who else will fight for her rescue? They may go get Peeta and even if she's in the very next cell, leave her to rot because you gave up on her. I can't imagine someone wanting to leave at the moment I need them more than anything."

"I wish you would go away," he whispers.

"I would wish for bigger things, if I were wishing. I wish Annie and Peeta would get rescued and that they had not had to suffer," Prim whispers back.

Finnick cries forever, until Prim has to move to a more comfortable position. "I know how you feel to be left behind. Katniss has left me behind twice now. Annie has better odds than she could have had going twice to the games. They won't kill her so long as you are alive. If you die, she has no further purpose to them. They probably aren't even being mean to her. They know she wouldn't be trusted with any useful information, so she's just sitting around waiting for you," Prim says softly.

"How did you survive it? I can't find the way." He still speaks so quietly, but his eyes plead for some answer.

"You can start by living. You solve nothing by giving them your death without even making them earn it. Think how she will suffer for you. You at least have to hang on long enough to know." Prim's hand reaches out and holds a tissue to his nose.

Finnick blows. "Then what? What if she never comes back? What if she's gone?"

"Then you live long enough to see that it never happens again, to anyone. You die a hero, not a coward, so when she asks you how you got there with her, you can be proud of your answer." Prim chews her lip. She reaches down and unlocks his restraints.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Trusting you. If I come back tomorrow, and you are gone, I will tell her you only loved you. Not her." She lowers her head and looks in his eyes hard and firm.

"Blackmailer," he sighs, rubbing his wrists. He looks up at her and then back down at his wrists again. "So you are coming back tomorrow?"

"I will if you take a shower and brush your teeth," she says smiling.

He smirks, and then says, "Picky Miss Prim, will come again, if Finny –O takes a shower. Sugar is she, of brine and pee and now she has all the Power!" He unbuckles his leg restraints.

"You kind of suck as a poet," Prim teases.

"Hey, that was my talent. But that wasn't a poem, it was a chantey." He corrects.

"Oh, then make up another one for tomorrow. Make it longer, and better. We will have dinner together, now that you can feed yourself." Prim looks back in the room and blushes when Finnick smiles at her and winks.

A week goes by. Each day, Finnick has a chantey or a poem for her. Some make her giggle they are so horrible. Two make her laugh. One made her cry. But, he was there every day.

Finn improves. He is far from well, but he is out of the woods. Prim continues to visit him each day. He has told her about his life. He told her about his real life, within reason. He gave her facts of exactly what has happened to him but he didn't explain specific gory details. Her medical background did allow him to give her the highlights without it being explicit. She is a little firecracker about the human body and he felt if she is allowed to discuss his bowel movements and prostate health, a general idea of his full victor duties could be discussed in relative comfort.

It was necessary also for her to understand the need of his four pelvic-floor rebuilds. After nine years, Finnick had a lot of plastic. Her inquiry of the extensive enhancements had not been satisfied by beauty alone. She accepts his experiences without judgment, shock or question, but sometimes she does offer a great deal of compassion.

The more Prim knew of Finnick, the more she loves him. He never looks at her figure or let his hands wander. Finnick is more of a gentleman then her boyfriend, Rory. She had begun to depend on him as the great boyfriend advisor. She is honest about how she also had once had a crush on Peeta's brother before she'd liked Rory. Peeta's brother had slipped her broken cookies and shared his cake with her at school but never saw her as someone to hold hands with. She confided that she had known Peeta liked Katniss long before the games. With tears she tells him of Peea's family and how devastated she had been when they had been in one of the escape groups hit by a fiery Elmo anti-property tactical missile. They had been less than a hundred feet from her and Hazel and Momma, then there was nothing left of them or Mr. Undersea. So many had escaped from the town and the hovercrafts went after the people. She told Finnick the horror of that night. She had never been able to tell anyone, and yet her patient became her therapist and her friend.

The more Finnick speaks to Prim, the more he loves her. His sister had been just her age when she had died. She was only two years younger than he was, but in Finnick's mind she was still the same age as when she had passed. Prim seemed to take that place for him. He gave her the part of himself locked away in time, an innocent form of love he had almost forgotten. She was as beautiful as his sister. They had different personalities, but still he could see similarities. He had teased her about having a crush on him and she had teased him about his virgin seeking penile implants malfunctioning, but it was good-natured and never sexual.

Prim and Finnick are cohorts in crime. She is almost fourteen and the games have stunted something in Finnick at about fifteen, so even though he is ten years and a million miles older, they exist on a common maturity level. They play awful jokes on Haymitch. He plays back, though Haymitch's retaliatory jokes tend to edge upon tasteless. They visit Katniss together and snicker in the hallways about his hospital gown. They also have a great deal if fun creating lewd sculptures out of the unsavory colored bland food. They even got in trouble for a food fight in Finnick's room once, and Prim kept a straight face as she explained it was part of his treatment.

He had noticed that she was troubled for the last two visits. He finally pries it out of her what the problem is. Rory wants to kiss her.

"Do you want to kiss him?" Finn asks as directly as she'd asked him about hemorrhoids.

"Of course I do." Prim blushes, exactly like Finn had the first time she'd mentioned hemorrhoids to him after discovering blood in his stool. He hates them weighing every substance that comes out of him.

"If he wants to kiss you and you want to kiss him, what's the problem? Kiss him. Just don't let that lead past the stage of where you want to stop. You have to be in charge of you. Boys can't think. Don't let him push you." Finn advises her.

"I can't. He's kissed girls before. I haven't kissed a single boy. What if I am horrible at it? I don't know how."

"So what, you will learn." Finn pats her back wisely. He is feeling like an overprotective fool, thinking how he will clobber this boy if he ever hurts her. He thinks of all the big brothers out there in the world who must feel the same way about him.

"No, you don't understand. I am good at everything I do, and he has other girls to compare with. I don't want to be awful. He will never want to kiss me again." Prim fiddles with her curls, boinging them repeatedly.

"So you need a tester pig to kiss first, so you will know what you're doing when Rory boy slips some tongue?" Finn smirks.

"No. I don't know what to do. I don't know anybody else to kiss and I know he's going to give me a present and want to kiss me on my birthday. I have put it off til now but…" Prim stands and paces.

Finnick relaxes on his bed, arms tucked behind his head, grin on his face. "They say Haymitch is a good kisser. We should ask him to kiss you. We should check how much vomiting he's done first."

Her face is stunned warning, "You are just evil. I am going to kill you if you even suggest it to him because he will do it. That is not a joke."

Finnick laughs, "Ok, then we could set up a kissing booth and by the time you have finished the day, you will have a ton of-"

"Thanks for making fun of me. I should have kept my mouth shut." Prim actually has her feelings hurt.

"Prim? Would you kiss me?" he asks, standing up and looking at her both sheepish and seductive.

She looks at him with tears. "You just crossed the line into mean. Eat by yourself tonight, Jerk!"

"Wait, hey…Prim. I was not joking. I mean who better? Think sweetie, what did I do? What was I good at? And it isn't even cheating because I am just teaching you, like a class. I mean not that you aren't kissable. You are, but I am good at it. People used to pay me? I'll show you how to knock his boots off." Finnick stands between her and the door.

She chews her lip, shifting from one foot to the other. "No. It's not right. You're my patient."

"Come on. I stopped being your patient a long time ago. I mean, I hope I did. Shit, I thought you came now just because you…wanted too. Hey, my mistake. Forget it," Finn says, going into the bathroom and closing the door.

Prim walks out, mortified and not even sure why she is so mad. She returns the next day and is warned not to expect much. "Odair has been on the warpath all day today. You may not want to go in there."

Prim sighs. The closed door isn't a good sign. Finn hardly ever wants it closed. She opens it softly and sees him sitting in a chair facing the wall gripping the chair as if it is rolling left and right. "Finnick?"

"Go away Doc. Jobs done," he says hoarsely.

"Nobody ever called me Doc before. I like it," Prim says in her teasing voice.

"Write it in your chart. I hear you got recommended for Residency. You got what you wanted, now go," Finn says without any inflection.

"I did. I just found out this morning. Who told you? I thought you'd be happy." Prim edges closer.

"What the hell makes you think I care?" Finnick turns and glares at her.

"Is this because I wouldn't kiss you?" Prim demands, crossing her arms and shifting her weight.

"Oh for Poseidon's sake…you're just a damned kid. Who cares? Kissing you is such a dream for me. Please, you will make a great doctor. You sure have the ego for it." He kicks the chair back.

Prim stands her ground. "Just because I don't want to kiss you doesn't mean I don't want to be friends."

"Friends? Friends? I don't have any. I have people who want things, demand things, expect things. I don't have any friends," Finn roars. He is pure capitol man right now.

"You have me?" Prim is looking at him studying his reaction.

"No. Patient. That's done now. You bravely helped poor loony Finn. Impressed the right people and got that big gold ring. Good for you. And I knew two days ago, so you lied."

"I didn't lie. They told me this morning. What is going on? Fine. Kiss me already. I hate you mad at me."

"I don't want to kiss you. I was trying to be your friend and you set me straight on our roles. It doesn't matter now." Finn is still red with anger. The green eyes are cold still water and his face is perfect in its lack of expression. If he were wearing makeup, nobody could tell he is mad.

"Finnick. I am sorry I hurt your feelings. I did think we were friends, I mean do you know how embarrassed I am about this? What am I supposed to do? I don't want something to go wrong!" Prim loses her confident tone and it trickles toward whine.

He turns to her and smiles just a little. "You mean you are afraid I will fall for you or that you will recognize my tremendousness and pine for me? I am a professional."

"Professional pain of the hemorrhoidish kind." She glowered almost as hard as Katniss.

"You must have a crush on me. You're obsessed with my butt," he says, bopping his head back and forth.

Prim is exasperated and blushing. "How could I not be, you are always flapping it around. If you would tie that thing properly-"

Finnick turns his naked tushy at her and shakes it. "Kiss it, spank it, rub it on your mug , makes you a butt head stinky bug."

"Finnick, trust me dear, my job is not done," Prim says, slapping his lower cheek hard enough to leave a handprint.

"I can't believe anyone who knows so much about groins, butts, eyeballs and guts could be so clueless about lipworks," he says, and then laughs, rolling his eyes.

"It isn't exactly the same thing." Prim shrugs.

"You trust me, right?" he asks.

"You know I do. I don't tell anyone the stuff I tell you." She looks away nervously as he takes her in his arms. She is so frightened, she is holding her breath and looking at the floor.

"Then trust me." He tucks his finger under her chin and tilts her head. His eyes are gentle and his movements slow and tender as he brings his lips near hers. He waits, letting her see he means no harm and will not force her. She doesn't move away or object, and he looks at his sweet little heart shaped target and lightly touches his lips to hers.

Prim freezes, but as his mouth brushes hers and then sweetly his lips first rest against hers, she softens. His tongue darts against her lips and they timidly part. His tongue feels so strange inside her mouth, yet as he withdraws it, she lets her own follow. It is wet and not unpleasant, and his kiss becomes playful as he sucks her lower lip, and then withdraws.

"First sweet little Prim kiss. Thank you," he whispers, with a grin. He closes his mouth to hers again and this time, as she takes a deep breath, she relaxes and kisses him back. She has no idea how long it lasts, but she feels as if she has lost time, melted in his glamorous venom, let some part of her slip into deep breath and throbbing heart.

They spend time, discussing kissing in general, how to prepare her lips, nose etiquette, foods to avoid, no slimy lip stuff law and how to bail out. She has a fit of giggles after a few kisses and he tickles her until she squeals. There is a little spark there, he is Finnick Odair, but he is both flattered and unwilling to ever allow this direction to flicker. He keeps the kisses pleasant, but gauged to demonstration not seduction.

She actually knows what she is doing by the time Rory bends his head to her. When he pulls back, eyes wide, and says "Wow, that was amazing!" Prim can't wait to tell Finnick.

He grins and bumps knuckles with her. Finnick shyly hands her, her present. It is just a necklace made of twine and knotted into cunning little patterns, but she smiles and knows he put time and heart into it and she wears it proudly.

Prim never told Finnick the truth about how she'd had a little crush on him and was afraid to kiss him. She never admits what his kisses did to her. Sometimes when she dreamed her silly dreams, like about walking into her old school, she thinks how much fun she would have had telling her friends that she'd gotten her first kiss from Finnick Odair. It makes her sad to think about them in the day, knowing there are so many gone, who never even got a first kiss, much less from that hunky victor they had all never even thought of as a real person.

Finnick is released from the hospital and Katniss is too. Prim and Finn stay friends, but they do have one more kissing episode. There is a dance. Rory asks someone else. Prim says she isn't going. Finnick cooks up a huge plan to see that she does. He escorts her himself. When Rory and the girl, disappear, Finn orchestrates a fiendish plot. He stations he and Prim where they can be easily seen, while appearing to think they are hidden. Poor Rory happens to glimpse Prim and Finnick in some major kissing and very suggestive rubbing. Rory hears Prim moan a little, not knowing it is for his benefit, and turns fire red as he storms out of the dance. Finn and Prim grin with mirth that they have just pulled off the appearance of an intimate make out session and Prim has not been molested in any way.

Rory has to win his prize from none other than Finnick Odair. Finn gives him no quarter, pretending to be obsessed with her. When Rory finally woos her away, he never strays from her perfect blue eyes again. Finnick plays jealous in Rory's presence, always with a sly wink for Prim.

When Annie comes home, Finn is thrilled at how perfectly gentle and calm Prim is around his sweet true love. Her methods are completely different with Annie than how she treated Finnick. Annie responds to Prim, at first only by not screaming and covering her ears in her presence. But eventually she begins to nod, when Prim asks her questions not pertaining to her capture. They carry on a conversation about the sea by drawing things back and forth. One day he walks in and Annie is chatting about how the sand texture and slope of the beach can tell you if it is safe to swim.

On Finnick's wedding day, Prim smiles at him with an 'I told you so' look on her face as she drops a path of petals before his bride. Finnick dances with Prim that day, goading Katniss into dancing with her as well. Prim always wanted a big brother, even if he is a slightly kissable one.

Prim didn't know as she lands with the Med-Evac hovercraft that her friend has died. There are rumors the whole squad is dead, but she didn't believe the reports. She knows the world would feel empty without them, and beings it didn't feel empty, they have to be alive. She has worked so hard to earn her place on this flight, wanting to make everyone proud. She wants to prove to everyone she is big enough to help too. She knew she didn't have the determined will to be a hero, but she had the focus and steady temperament to put the conquerors back together when they are torn apart.

She could be a hero in her own way. She knew she already was a hero to the heroes. She would be there to stop the bleeding and ease the pain of battle not just for their bodies, but also in their hearts.

She feels hot wind, then unimaginable pain. Her head hit the ground so hard and her ears hurt like she'd stuck needles in them. She sees the ground turn red and the grass ablaze. Prim hears two screams, one is her and one is Katniss, and then all is silent. She wanders around lost for only a second or two when a familiar voice calls to her.

She smiles at handsome Finnick in his uniform. He looks both sad and joyful as he takes her in his arms. "I don't understand what's going on. Where did everyone go?" she asks a little afraid.

"They will be along. For now it's just us. Do you trust me?" he says softly.

"Of course I do, Finnick." Prim smiles.

"Then trust me," he says and bends his lips to her with his face filled with love and his eyes filled with peace. Love on this side knows no age and no end.

The two friends know they will have to pass the time waiting on the others to arrive. They are cohorts in crime and make a huge mess having a stardust fight. Finnick keeps a straight face as he explains it is a necessary part of her transition to the new place.

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><p><em><strong>I hope that was sweet and the kissing didn't creep you out. I got my first kiss from an older buddy – and it was never weird or creepy - just hilarious and never went a step farther. He is whom I got the no slimy lip crap law – because in my teeny-boppin days we had this glycerin-based oil that you slathered on top of lipstick and it was disgusting! I hope you like this – I hated that Prim was just gone….I wanted to give her a little hero time for being there at all, rather than she was forced….and I wanted her and Finn to have a little 'we are ok' moment. Please review! I am not going to write any more smexyless stories if only one person reads them - grin<strong>_.


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